Grand Circle Travel Reviews

Pros

Great Benefits Great PTO Summer Hours to leave earlier Free Trips Sabbatical every 5 year

Cons

I do not have any cons for this place. You are lucky if you are able to work here. Such a great company.

Pros

Great coworkers. Fun balance of experienced and fresh faces. When I first started, I really appreciated the mix of people just starting their work careers (which gave it a fun energy) while still seeing that there were a number of people who had been with the company for 10/15/20 years (which proved that it wasn't purely a turn and burn type of employer). The company sent me on a number of tours around the world and offered great discounts on other trips that I selected on my own. Having experienced the product firsthand, I was very proud and confident about what we were offering to our clients (who often would repeat business over and over again). The company has some personnel both in Boston and around the world (i.e. the world wide offices but especially the guides that we'd contract). Unfortunately I was laid off during the coronavirus downturn, but would consider returning again at some point in the future when travel begins to resemble something that's "normal".

Cons

Upper management would often make hasty, regrettable decisions. Some policies that took effect in 2018/2019 regarding cancelation penalties and early payment discounts seemed to only worsen that value for customers (this seemed to have been partially corrected during the coronavirus pandemic as the company has eased some restrictions).

Pros

Good pay and great co workers

Cons

Crazy managers. They said that employees go first. That is not true. They only care about making money on your expenses

Pros

Great coworkers in TS, the location in Boston is excellent, and there is a great commuter benefit for the MBTA. I learned skills that allowed me to obtain a new, higher paying non-call center job.

Cons

If you want basic job stability, Grand Circle is not the place to work. Arbitrary, ever changing metrics determine employment status. Monthly metrics (KRAs) such as post call surveys (PCS) and average call time (AHT) are key to career success, even if results aren't entirely within your control. Traveler Support department managers do their best to help you improve metrics, but the metrics change so quickly that it is difficult to keep up. There is a culture of fear within the support department because everyone (except managerial favorites) is fighting to keep their job. The vast majority of my training class were fired or quit — there is a revolving door of turnover due to this company firing so many people. Career progression is based on how well you do within the first month or two of employment — if you're below the top five of your training class, obtaining a promotion is unlikely. It is also very difficult to maintain work life balance due to the excessive mandatory overtime. There were four hours of mandatory overtime per week from April to August. Working hours are unstable due to a shift bid that occurs every six months, which is also based entirely on metrics. The travel benefits that Grand Circle boasts about are extremely difficult for support employees to obtain, and PTO is difficult for support employees to use. Seriously, don't work here. I wish I listened to the Glassdoor reviews when I applied. I thought it was just disgruntled employees. but I was wrong.